"Here is a work for poets;
Carve the runes
Then be content with silence."George
Mackay Brown

When
people first began to communicate in writing, their implements were
crude.

This forced them to make do with simple drawings that could
be easily scratched on stone or wood.

Over time these rough scratches developed
into more complex writing forms.

An example of this development is
the runic alphabets used by the Germanic peoples of western Europe.
Here, the scratched symbols developed into the angular lettering
known as runes.

Although there is evidence that an
early form of runic writing was in existence as early as the second
century AD, it is not known exactly where and when the runes we
recognise today were first introduced.

Runes are formed from angular, straight
lines, a shape dictated by the material used for recording the messages
 usually wood, bone or stone. The message had to be cut quickly
with a blade or axehead - a method that was not conducive to overly-complicated
designs.

Magical purposes

Not surprisingly given their mythological
origin (see side panel), the runes were first and foremost seen
as having a magical and ritual function.

They were used for divination as
well as other "magical" purposes, such as controlling
the weather, the tides and crops and other facets of daily life.
Magical runes were carved on amulets, drinking cups, spears and
ships to provide protection for the owner, or simply to enhance
the power of the object.

Over time, however, although the
magical power of the runes was still respected, they began to be
used more as a simple method of communication. By the end of the
Viking period they were no longer the property of soothsayers and
sorcerers but were commonly used by ordinary people.

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Now runes were used to leave messages
as well as mark property and belongings.

The word "rune" derives from the
Old Norse word meaning "secret writing". In German it
is related to the word "secret" or "whisper"
Aside from the runic collection found in
Maeshowe, there have been 19 examples of runes found in Orkney
- as well as a few whose authenticity are open to question.
According to Norse mythology, the god Odin,
in an effort to learn the secrets of life and death, sacrificed
himself by hanging upside-down from the world-ash tree Yggdrasil,
impaled by his own spear.

For nine days and nine nights he hung, gazing down into the depths
of Niflheim. During this ordeal, and tormented by pain, hunger
and thirst, Odin won the knowledge he sought.

When he had fully mastered this knowledge, he cut magical runes
on his spear, Gungnir, upon the teeth of his horse, Sleipnir among
other things.